Jo And Doug
by autumnrose2010
Summary: Takes place in 2009. Jo is now a widow with a young daughter. She moves to Oklahoma City to start over, where she meets a man named Doug Norman and his teenage son Clay. Crosses over slightly with 'Saving Grace.'
1. Meeting Doug

_A/N: In my story, Rick was the police officer instead of Jo. Also, Jamie is twelve years old in 2009.  
_

"Drat!" Jo exclaimed. She'd slammed on the brakes, but not soon enough. Wet and slick from hours of drizzling rain, the road hadn't yielded enough traction to prevent her 1998 Toyota Corolla from slamming into the car ahead of it.

"Oh no!" exclaimed Jamie, who was sitting in the front seat beside her mother. She had dark brown hair and eyes like Jo. "What are we gonna do now?"

"God, I don't know," Jo groaned. All she needed was a traffic ticket, on top of all her other worries. She could see the driver of the other car getting out and coming to talk to her now. He was middle aged and was tall and broad-shouldered, with dark brown hair and eyes.

"Oh, man, I'm sorry!" Jo exclaimed. "I tried to stop, really I did..."

"Well, I don't think I have any major damage," the man told her. "Looks like my back bumper just got scratched a little. I'd just as soon not get the police involved, if it's all the same to you."

Jo's car was in much worse shape, as her front hood was crumpled up like an accordion. She figured it would be in the shop for at least a week, during which time she'd have to hire a rental car. Her eyes filled with tears as she surveyed the damage.

"Would you like for me to call a tow truck for you?" the man offered.

"That's all right." Jo wiped the tears from her eyes. "I think it's still drivable. Why'd you say what you did about not wanting to get the cops involved?"

The man looked sheepish. "It's a little embarrassing, but I'm on probation right now. Nothing serious. Possession of a very small amount of marijuana. I haven't smoked it since then, and I never will again, that's for sure."

"Oh."

"Oh, I'm sorry! Where are my manners?" The man chuckled and held his hand out to Jo. "I'm Doug Norman."

"I'm Jo Bonner, and this is my daughter Jamie," Jo told Doug as she shook hands with him. She noticed that he looked just a little disappointed.

"So what does your husband do?"

"He was a policeman. He died in the 9/11 attacks."

"I'm sorry to hear that. So you're from New York, then?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Jo, I'm sure sorry about your car." Doug looked sadly at her crushed hood.

"That's all right. It wasn't your fault."

"I know a really good mechanic if you don't already have one."

"I do, but thanks anyway."

"Say, Jo...I know this isn't really the appropriate time to say this, but I'd really like to call you sometime, if that's all right. I'd really like to see you again."

To her surprise, Jo felt her heart begin to flutter. She hadn't felt like this since...

"Sure, that sounds great." She gave Doug her telephone number. He thanked her and waited to make sure she was OK before driving off himself. She wondered whether he was really serious about wanting to see her again. She hoped he was.


	2. Seeing Doug Again

Feeling both dejected and hopeful at the same time, Jo drove her badly damaged car the short distance to her small apartment. "I don't feel like cooking tonight," she told Jamie. "Let's just go to Subway."

"Yay!" Jamie exclaimed.

Within moments, they were seated at a table with submarine sandwiches and potato chips before them. "So, what did you think of that guy?" Jamie asked her mother.

Jo shrugged. "He seemed nice. At least he wasn't angry that I hit his car."

"Our car sure got a lot worse damage," Jamie pointed out.

"Yeah," Jo agreed. "But if you rear end someone, the police automatically consider it to be your fault for following too close behind them."

_"Were _you following too close behind him?"

"I didn't think I was, but I guess I was wrong," Jo muttered gloomily. To her surprise, she was hungry enough to finish her entire meal. After they finished eating, she and her daughter went back home, where Jo watched a couple of hours of TV, quickly checked her email, and went to bed.

The following day, she called her job and told them she'd be a couple of hours late, called her insurance company and told them what had happened, then took the car in to the mechanic's and arranged for a rental car.

* * *

During the two weeks it took for her car to be repaired, Jo was so preoccupied that she put the encounter with Doug at the back of her mind, but on the day she went to pick her car up from the mechanic's, it occurred to her that he'd never called her. _I knew he wouldn't, _she told herself, swallowing the lump of disappointment in her throat.

That Friday night, she and Jamie went to WalMart to pick up some household items they needed, and as always, they checked out the bin of five dollar DVDs before leaving. "I thought I saw a copy of 'Saw IV' in here a minute ago, but I can't find it now," Jamie complained.

"You and your slasher movies," Jo teased.

"C'mon, Mom, you know you like them just as much as I do," Jamie replied with a grin.

"Here's a copy," said a helpful voice. Jo and Jamie turned to see a brown-haired boy a couple of years older than Jamie who had a friendly smile.

"Are you about ready to go, Clay?" asked a man's voice from a couple of aisles over.

"In a minute, Dad," the boy replied.

A moment later, Doug appeared. He and Jo stared at one another in startled silence for just a moment, and then he grinned and stepped toward her. "Jo! Small world, isn't it?"

"Hi, Doug," Jo said coolly.

"I meant to call you, really, I did," Doug continued. "I just got so busy, work and all..." He shrugged helplessly while Clay and Jamie just stared at one another, perplexed.

"It's all right," Jo heard herself say. "I've been pretty busy myself."

"Well, is your car fixed now?"

"Yeah, finally." Jo rolled her eyes. "I just got it back a few days ago."

"You know, I feel pretty bad about that," Doug said softly.

"No reason for you to," Jo replied. "It wasn't your fault."

"At least let me buy you a coffee," said Doug.

"Well...all right." Suddenly Jo felt her urge to get home melt away in response to Doug's charming smile.

* * *

"So, are you an every-other-weekend Dad?" Jo asked Doug as they sat in the diner drinking coffee and talking.

"I'm a full-time Dad." Doug laughed. "Clay's Mom was killed in the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995."

"That's terrible!" Jo exclaimed. "So you've pretty much raised him alone, then."

"I've had a lot of help," Doug told her. "Mary Frances' sister Grace has been wonderful with Clay. She's been almost like a second mother to him. I don't know how I ever would have made it without her."

"Family is important," Jo agreed. "Jamie was only four when her Dad died. It was very hard for both of us that first year. She was too young to understand. She just kept crying and asking when her Daddy was going to come home."

"Clay was just a baby," Doug said. "Mary Frances was still nursing him. After she died, I had a really hard time getting Clay to drink formula."

"That's so sad, that he was too young to remember his Mom," Jo reflected. "At least Jamie does have some vague memories of her Dad."

They finished their coffee and kept on talking, until suddenly Jo noticed the time and was a little bit alarmed to see how late it was. "I really need to be getting back home," she said. "But I really enjoyed talking to you, and thanks for the coffee."

"It was my pleasure," Doug replied. "And I enjoyed talking to you as well."

Doug and Clay walked Jo and Jamie back to their car, and Jo felt really happy as she drove back home.


	3. First Date

Doug called Jo the following afternoon. "I hope I'm not calling at a bad time," he said.

"Not at all!" Jo replied. "I was just catching up on some housework while I wait for the washing machine to finish. You gave me an excuse to sit down and take a break."

Doug laughed. "Glad to be of assistance." Suddenly he turned serious. "I have a confession to make. The real reason I didn't call before was that I just couldn't get up the nerve to. See...my last relationship ended so badly that I've just been plain scared to take the risk again."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Jo sympathized.

"Her name was Maggie," Doug continued. "She was a bartender, and I really fell for her, hard. She was pretty, smart, funny, full of life...you know how they say love is blind? Well, it sure was in my case...Anyway, my sister-in-law Grace...I told you about her...she did some investigating, and it turned out that Maggie and her boyfriend were scheming together to rob the Oklahoma City bombing victims of their settlements."

"That's terrible!" Jo exclaimed. "I sure hope she got what she deserved!"

"She did," Doug assured her. "Afterwards I felt so stupid for having been so trusting. I'll sure be more careful next time."

"I don't blame you!" Jo agreed. "Well, I can assure you that I'm no crook."

Doug laughed. "Getting busted for having pot was the only trouble of any kind I've ever been in."

"I got into some trouble when I was a teenager, but nothing serious," Jo replied. "Since graduating high school, I've been as good as gold."

"Hey, I was wondering if you and your daughter would like to come over tonight," Doug suggested. "Nothin' fancy, but I thought maybe we could have dinner and watch a movie, if you want."

"That sounds all right," Jo agreed. "Do you need me to bring anything?"

"Just yourselves." Doug chuckled.

Jamie was in her bedroom watching TV. Jo walked down the hallway and knocked on her door. "We have an invitation to go to Doug and Clay's for dinner tonight," she said.

"Aw, I wanted to spend the night at Taylor's," Jamie protested.

"That's all right," said Jo. "I'll just drop you off at Taylor's before heading over to Doug's."

Jo made _mizeria _(cucumber salad) to take to Doug's anyway. She dropped Jamie off at her friend Taylor's and got to Doug's at around six.

Doug was sitting on the sofa watching TV when Jo arrived. He was wearing jeans with a striped shirt with the top button undone.

His face lit up when he saw her. "Jo! Come on in! Where's Jamie?"

"Spending the night with one of her friends."

"Clay's out with friends, too." Doug looked at the covered dish she held. "I told you you didn't have to bring anything!"

"I know." Jo smiled. "This is _mizeria_. It's my mother's recipe."

"Well, it looks tasty," Doug replied. "I suppose it'll go OK with lasagna. Oh, sorry, I forgot to ask if you like lasagna..."

"I love it!"

"Say, since neither Clay nor Jamie is here, how about if I take you out to a movie after dinner? Anything you particularly want to see?"

"Hm...how about 'Zombieland'?"

"Aw, don't tell me you like _those _kind of movies!"

"Well, if you'd rather see something else..."

"Naw, that's OK. I'll take you to see it if you want."

He did, and ended up enjoying it much more than he thought he would. "Well, now I'm glad you suggested it!" he told Jo as they left the theater afterwards. "It was a lot better than I thought it would be!"

"I knew you'd like it." Jo smiled. "Would you like to come in for a drink? All I have is beer."

"Beer's fine!" said Doug.

They drank their beer and talked about their jobs and their children. "I'm a receptionist for an OB/GYN," Jo told Doug. "All I see all day long is babies and bellies."

Doug laughed. "I'm in landscaping," he told Jo. "Been doin' that for about thirty years now. Nothin' fancy, but it keeps the bills paid and a roof over our heads."

"You must really enjoy it to have been doing it for so long," Jo replied. "When I was younger, I really wanted to be a police officer, but I couldn't pass the physical because of my asthma."

"Are you OK now?" asked Doug.

"Oh, yes, I'm fine now," Jo said. "I just start wheezing sometimes when I get really stressed out."

"Well, I've had a great time, but I guess I need to be heading on home now," Doug finally said.

"Thanks for taking me out," said Jo. "I had a great time too."

"Thanks for going out with me," Doug replied. "Maybe we could do it again sometime, if you'd like."

"I'd like that."

"Well, beautiful lady, can I kiss you good-night?"

"Please do!"

He did. Jo watched as he drove away, wondering whether she'd ever hear from him again. She hoped she would.


	4. Do You Believe In Angels?

On Sunday morning, Jo slept in until about nine o'clock and had a slight headache when she got up. Vaguely she reflected that if she'd only gotten up a couple of hours earlier, she could have gone to church. Oh well, maybe next time, she thought as she made scrambled eggs and toast and coffee for breakfast.

Afterwards she cleaned house and read a romance novel. While reading, she imagined Doug in the role of the hero and herself in the role of the heroine. She got so involved in her fantasy that she almost didn't even notice when her stomach began to growl.

After fixing herself a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches and eating them, she went to Taylor's to pick Jamie up. "Did you have a good time?" she asked as they rode home.

"Yeah. We stayed up til three in the morning." Jamie yawned. Jo laughed.

They went bike riding for awhile, and then Jamie took a nap while Jo read her novel some more. Around six, Jo made dinner and they ate.

Jo had just about given up on hearing from Doug when he called her while she was watching TV at about nine thirty. "I ain't callin' you too late, am I?" he asked anxiously.

"Not at all," Jo replied. "I wasn't planning on turning in for a couple of hours or so. How are you?"

"I'm all right," Doug replied. "Hey, listen, I'm sorry I didn't call you earlier. It's just been one thing after another today. I got home from church this morning to find my sink running over with water 'cause somebody didn't turn the tap off completely, and then once I got that mess cleaned up, I had to fix the chain on Clay's bike. I was doin' that when I pinched my finger and hit hurt like heck, and then I realized that I was out of Band-Aids and had to go to the store, and then the register froze and it took them about half an hour to fix that..."

"Oh my God, you poor thing," Jo laughed. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to laugh; I know it wasn't really funny..."

"That's OK. It helps a whole lot just to hear your voice." Suddenly he sounded a bit shy.

"It's great to hear your voice too, Doug." Jo was reminded of the fantasies she'd had while reading her romance novel earlier and felt inexplicably ashamed of them. "I've been feeling kind of lonely today."

Doug chuckled nervously. "Well, I just wanted to let you know that I had a really great time last night. I haven't had that much fun in a long time. I'd love to do it again soon...if you would."

"Of course I would!" Although suddenly deliriously happy, Jo was, at the same time, worried that perhaps she sounded _too _eager. She certainly didn't want to come across as desperate.

"Great! How about next weekend?"

"Sounds good to me!"

* * *

Sure enough, Doug called her the following Friday night. "I was gonna try to set up something for tomorrow night," he told her. "But it's supposed to be a really gorgeous day, so I thought I'd take Clay fishing, and I was wondering if you and Jamie would like to come along."

"I don't know how to fish," Jo confessed. "I've never been before."

"Aw, you're kidding!"

"No, I'm not. I really haven't."

"Well, how about if I teach you, then?"

"Well...OK. Yeah, that might be fun."

"Fishing?" Jamie asked when Jo mentioned the subject to her. "You mean, like, sticking worms on hooks and stuff? Gross!"

"You don't have to come along if you don't want," said Jo. "But I'm going tomorrow with Doug and Clay."

"You mean Clay's gonna be there too? Count me in, then!"

The day started out pleasantly enough. Doug and Clay picked Jo and Jamie up and drove them to the bridge, where Doug baited everyone's hook and they all stood around waiting for a bite.

"You mentioned that you went to church last Sunday," Jo said to Doug.

"I go every Sunday," Doug replied.

"Where do you go, if you don't mind my asking?"

"St. Jude."

"I'm Catholic, too," Jo said. "Well, at least my family is."

"What about you?"

Jo shrugged. "Well...I used to go to church all the time when I was a lot younger, but as I got older, I sort of got out of the habit. A lot of it was that life just got a lot busier, and part of it was...well, I just started wondering whether all that stuff was really true, y'know?"

"Do you believe in angels?" asked Doug.

"I dunno. I never met one."

_"I _have."

"Huh? You mean you've met a real angel?"

"Sure have. His name's Earl. Remember my sister-in-law Grace that I told you about? He's her guardian angel. He saved her from a tragic accident several years ago, and he's been with her ever since then."

"You're kidding!" Jo couldn't believe her ears.

"I'll introduce you to him, if you like," Doug offered.

"Yeah," said Jo. "That's one guy I've _got _to meet."


	5. Wings

To her surprise, Jo had a nice time with Doug, Clay, and Jamie at the river that day. Doug caught five fish, Clay caught three, and Jo and Jamie caught one each.

"Not bad at all, for beginners," Doug said encouragingly. They went back to his house, where Doug cleaned the fish and cooked them for dinner. Afterwards, Jo and Jamie stayed and visited for several hours, laughing and talking, until Jo started yawning.

"I guess it's about time we headed home," she told Doug.

"Already?" He looked disappointed, then glanced at the clock. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Coming along, Clay?"

"Nah, I think I'll just hang out here," his son replied.

Back at Jo's apartment, Jamie quickly went back to her bedroom while Doug and Jo lingered at the doorway, talking.

"This weekend was totally different from the way I thought it was gonna go, but I can't imagine having had any more fun than I did," Doug told Jo.

"The weekend isn't over with yet," Jo reminded him.

"No, it isn't," he agreed. "Say, why don't you come to church tomorrow morning? I mean, if you don't already go someplace..."

"I don't," Jo told him. "In fact, that sounds like a good idea. I haven't even been to church at all since I moved here. It would be good to get back into the habit again."

"Good! I hope you'll come." He kissed her good-bye, a more lingering kiss this time.

Jamie refused to go with her mother to St. Jude's the following morning, preferring to sleep in, so Jo went alone. Doug beamed when he saw her enter the sanctuary and made room for her beside himself and Clay.

In the end, Jo was glad she'd decided to attend. The priest's message was about new beginnings, putting past sorrows behind and embracing the opportunities of the present.

"I think that was meant for both of us," Doug said to Jo when the service was over. "Why don't you come over later? I'll take you to meet Grace and Earl."

"OK, just let me make sure Jamie's all right," Jo replied.

"You're really into this guy, aren't you?" Jamie asked when Jo returned home.

"I do like him a lot," Jo admitted.

"Are you sleeping with him?" Jamie's eyes narrowed.

"That's none of your business, young lady!" Jo's eyes blazed with anger.

"So you are, then," Jamie said nonchalantly.

Jo stormed out of the house in anger and arrived at Doug's in a sour mood.

"What is it?" Doug asked anxiously.

"It's Jamie." Jo sighed. "She asked...something that was none of her business."

"Teenagers." Doug laughed and shook his head. "Well, you ready to go, then?"

* * *

"Doug tells me you're an angel," Jo said to Earl when she met him. To her, he looked like a very ordinary scruffy middle-aged man.

"I am," Earl replied. "Want to see proof?"

"Yeah." Jo glanced at Doug, wondering whether they were both mentally unbalanced. Without hesitation, Earl removed his shirt and opened his wings.

Jo gasped, shocked. "How the heck did you _do _that?"

"It was easy." Earl grinned.

"Can I touch them?"

"Sure!"

Jo examined Earl's wings and found that they seemed to be completely natural appendages, such as limbs. In the end, she had to concede that his claim to be an angel must be genuine.

"I couldn't believe it either, at first," Doug told Jo as he drove her home.

"Had you ever seen his wings before today?" asked Jo.

"Yes."

"How many times?"

"Not that many. He ain't a show-off about them. He doesn't want a lot of attention, articles written about him in the 'National Enquirer', stuff like that. He's only here to help Grace."

"Why only Grace?"

"She cried out to God, and He sent Earl to look out for her. But he's a nice guy, Jo. Any time you need him, just ask him, and he'll help you all he can."

"Has he helped you before?"

"He sure has." Doug grinned as he drove into the apartment building's parking lot.

"Must be handy knowing an angel," Jo remarked.

"Well, now you know him too, don't you?"


	6. Hiking Mishap

Jo spent a lot of time thinking about Earl over the following week. He was just so totally different from the way she'd always imagined angels to be. She'd always thought of them as youthful, attractive, effeminate, blond, and blue-eyed. Earl was very much the opposite of all that, and yet she'd seen his wings, hadn't she?

The following weekend, Doug and Clay invited Jo and Jamie to go hiking with them. "I've never been in this particular area before," Jo remarked when they reached their destination.

"Clay and I come here all the time, don't we, Clay?" Doug asked his son.

"Uh huh." Clay was busy mashing buttons on his cell phone while Jamie craned her neck to see what he was doing.

"Hey." Clay hid the phone from her view. "Quit snooping."

"That isn't polite, Jamie," Jo scolded her daughter.

"I didn't do anything," Jamie whined.

Embarrassed, Jo glanced at Doug who, to her relief, seemed oblivious to their children's interaction. Just then, she felt a stab of pain as an insect bit her and gave a little yelp.

"What's wrong?" Doug glanced her way with concern in his voice.

"Nothing. Just a little bug bite. That's all," Jo replied bravely, showing him her arm.

"That looks like some bite," he replied with a frown.

They continued their hike through the woods, and although Jo's arm itched and burned terribly from where the bug had bit her, she tried to ignore it and focus on the wonders of nature Doug was showing her.

After awhile, they stopped to eat the picnic lunch of fried chicken, potato salad, rolls, pound cake, and iced tea they'd packed to bring along. Rather than being ravenously hungry, as she'd expected to be, Jo found that she could barely eat at all.

"Don't you like it?" asked Doug, who'd provided the fried chicken and rolls. Jo had brought the potato salad and pound cake.

"It's delicious," Jo replied. "I don't know what's happened to my appetite..." Suddenly a wave of nausea came over her. She fought it with all her might and managed to swallow it.

They were on their way back when suddenly Jo felt so weak that she could hardly put one foot ahead of the other. Her skin felt first very hot, then very cold, and she struggled to breathe. "Something's wrong..." she gasped.

"Jo!" Doug exclaimed.

"Mom!" Jamie cried.

Jo wavered and and instantly felt Doug's strong arms around her, carrying her. Somehow he got her back to the car and then to the hospital, where she was immediately wheeled into the emergency room.

A couple of hours later, she found herself lying in bed with an IV in her arm, a very worried Doug sitting at her side.

"What happened?" she asked weakly.

"You had an allergic reaction to that insect bite," he told her. "They're giving you steroids to bring the inflammation down. Doc says if we'd gotten here thirty minutes later..." Doug teared up and couldn't finish.

"You mean I almost died...from an insect bite?" Jo couldn't believe it.

"You're gonna be fine now, babe. Doc says after a few hours of observation, you can go home."

"Where's Jamie?"

"She's fine. Her and Clay are in the waiting room."

"I'm sorry I loused up our fun day out."

"Aw, if wasn't your fault! I'm just glad you're all right!"

By the time Jo was released from the hospital, it was almost dark. "Want me to take you back to my house for the night?" Doug offered.

Jo was shocked. "You mean..."

Doug realized what he'd just said and laughed heartily. "Naw, babe, I wasn't even thinkin' about that. I just thought that maybe after all you've been through today you wouldn't feel like spendin' the night all by yourself."

"But what about Jamie? I don't feel comfortable leaving her by herself all night. She's only twelve."

"Oh, well, in that case, how about if I drop Clay off and come to your house? He's a big boy. He can take care of himself."

"There's only the sofa...'

"The sofa's fine!" With the appealing smile he gave her, how could ever she say no?


	7. Pancakes

Jo found it impossible to sleep that night. A suddenly occurring thought had shaken her badly, and try as she might, she couldn't get it out of her head. After hours of tossing and turning, she decided that she couldn't stand it anymore and got up and walked into the living room where Doug was. She hated to awaken him but didn't feel that her question could wait until the morning.

When she got there, she saw that, to her surprise and delight, Doug was awake as well, and was sitting up on the sofa as if he'd been expecting her. When he saw her, he held his arms out to her, and she silently went into them. The whole thing seemed as natural as could be.

Resting her head against Doug's shoulder as she relished the warm softness of his embrace, she felt her eyelids begin to get heavy, and she almost, but not quite, for what she'd wanted to ask him.

"Doug?"

"Hm?"

"How long did it take you to get me to the hospital after I...well, after what happened to me?"

"I don't know. I didn't time it, exactly. Why?"

"Well...it's just that I thought allergic reactions that severe usually killed people pretty fast, and I was wondering how I...how I lived long enough to get to the hospital."

"Earl was with us, you know."

Jo instantly snapped fully awake, shocked. "He _was? _But how did he know..."

"I called for him, and he came."

"You mean...he was right there in the car with us the whole time?"

"He was, and he also sat with me in your hospital room until we knew that you were going to be all right."

"Doug..." Suddenly Jo was crying, hard. As Doug tenderly kissed her tears away, gentle comfort soon gave way to ardent passion, and with a shock Jo felt his tongue slide into her mouth, his hands busily wandering all over her breasts.

A long-repressed desire sprang up inside her, and her erect nipples straining against the thin fabric of her nightshirt ached underneath the warmth of Doug's hands cupping them, until suddenly he was pulling the nightshirt over her head and then taking them into his mouth to gently suckle them in turn. Jo moaned and thrashed. "Oh, yes...oh, yes..."

She felt the hardness of his stiff erection pressing urgently against her as he lay her back on the sofa and began to cover her body with his own.

"Uh...Doug?"

"Hm?"

"Want to finish this in my bedroom?"

The spell seemed broken as Doug hesitated. "Um...Jo? I don't have a condom," he said awkwardly.

"I'm forty-three, Doug. I don't think it's gonna happen."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

They quickly adjourned to Jo's bedroom, where they eagerly peeled off their remaining clothing and climbed onto the bed, and then he was inside her,thrusting and grunting. She clung to his back as she rose up to meet him with each thrust.

It ended far too quickly for Jo.

"I'm sorry," Doug said sheepishly as she felt him limply slide out of her. "It's just that it's been so long..."

"It's been a long time for me, too," Jo replied. She basked in the warmth of his embrace as he gently rubbed her back.

"Are you all right, Jo? I didn't mean for this to happen, really..."

"That's OK. I wanted it too," Jo assured him. Suddenly very sleepy, she dozed off in his arms.

She awakened the following morning to find herself alone in bed. She wandered into the kitchen to see that Doug was not only already up and fully dressed but that he was in the process of serving up a plate of steaming hot pancakes to a beaming Jamie.

He grinned at her when he saw her. "Morning, sleepyhead! Hope you're hungry. I cooked up plenty."

"Oh, wow!" Overwhelmed, all Jo could do was stare.


	8. Prepared

"Wow, you didn't have to do that!" Jo couldn't believe her eyes.

"I know. I just thought you might be a bit hungry after...such a big day." He winked at her, and she giggled.

Jamie rolled her eyes. "God, I think I'm gonna barf..."

Both adults burst out laughing.

"You've been pretty happy up until now," Jo remarked, glancing at the remnants of Jamie's pancake breakfast.

Jamie grimaced. "Grown-ups!" she moaned.

"Teenagers!" Jo replied, mimicking her daughter's tone.

The pancakes were quickly consumed, and Jo and Doug cleaned up afterward. "Well, as much as I've enjoyed the company of you two lovely ladies, I think I'd better head home and see how Clay's faring," Doug said when they were finished.

"I loved having you here as well..." Jo paused, afraid of sounding too enthusiastic, perhaps even desperate.

Doug lightly touched her cheek. "Are you sure you're OK, Jo?"

"I'm fine." Jo smiled lightly. He embraced her and lightly kissed her lips, then was gone.

"He's a keeper," Jamie commented after he'd left.

"Aw, you're just thinking with your stomach," Jo teased.

"Those _were _some good pancakes," Jamie replied.

"Yes, they were," Jo agreed. She spent the rest of the day ruminating about what had transpired between herself and Doug the previous day and night. She certainly hadn't planned for the two of them to end up in bed together, but after her close brush with death and Doug's revelation about Earl's involvement in the incident, she couldn't deny that she'd felt a special bond with Doug, one much closer than the more casual connection they'd shared previously, and what had proceeded from that had seemed only natural, only right.

Still, she couldn't help but wonder if she'd given in to passion too soon in their relationship. Did Doug feel the same bond with her that she felt with him? Did that old rule about having to wonder whether or not he'd call her the following day still apply at their ages, in their circumstances?

As it turned out, she needn't have worried, as the following day, she returned from work to find that a single red rose with an accompanying card had been delivered to her address. "Dear Jo, I'm so glad you're all right! What happened to you gave me such a scare. I still feel bad about it, since it was my idea to go hiking that day. I enjoyed every minute I spent with you and hope to do it again really soon. Love, Doug.'

Along with the dizzying relief came a tiny pinprick of concern. Did Doug mean that he wanted to become her lover on a regular basis? If so, should she start thinking about birth control? Was forty-three really too old to get pregnant? She'd assumed it was, but was it really? She still menstruated every month. Did that mean that she was still fertile, even at her age?

"Told you he was a keeper," Jamie said when she saw the rose.

After dinner, Jo called Doug.

"Hey! How are you?" he exclaimed enthusiastically when he heard her voice.

"I'm fine. Thanks for the rose. That was really sweet of you."

"Aw, it's no problem at all! Glad you like it!"

An awkward silence followed. "So, how was your day?" Doug finally asked.

"It was all right. Busy. How was yours?"

"Same as usual. Missing you."

"Are you really? Aw, that's sweet!" _He really does like me!_

"Yeah, well, the weekend will be here, eventually."

"Hey, what did Clay say about your spending the night here?" The thought had suddenly occurred to her.

"Nothing." He sounded surprised. "He answers to me. I don't answer to him."

"Yes, of course, but..."

"But nothing!" Doug laughed and changed the subject.

* * *

He called her every night that week, and they made plans to go out to dinner Friday night. Jo prepared dinner for Jamie beforehand. When he arrived to pick her up, he looked more handsome and desirable than ever to her. Was that because they'd spent the night together the previous weekend, or would she have felt that way, anyway?

"Hey! Great to see you again!" he said as he embraced her and kissed her lips.

"I'm not sure when I'll be back," Jo told her daughter, almost apologetically. "I've got my cell phone with me in case you need anything."

"I'll be fine, Mom," Jamie assured her. "Have fun!"

Dinner and the movie that followed were only an excuse to see one another again, and they both knew it. When the movie ended, there was no question that they'd leave together afterwards.

"It'll have to be my place again," Jo told Doug. "I can't leave Jamie home alone all night. She's only twelve."

"Of course," said Doug. "Clay's fifteen. He'll be fine. And..." He took a small object from his pocket. "I'm prepared this time."

Jo saw that he was holding a condom.


	9. It's Not Over With Yet

Jo giggled. "You must have been a boy scout."

"As a matter of fact, I was." He grinned. "Ready to go?"

He took her out to her favorite restaurant, where he ordered steak and she ordered seafood. "I have to say you do look ravishing tonight," he told her. She'd worn her dark red off-one-shoulder dress.

"Thank you," she said. "I had you in mind when I picked it out. You look very nice as well." He was neatly dressed in jeans and a brown-and-tan striped polo shirt. "That shirt really matches your eyes."

He ate every bite of his meal, but she had to ask for a doggy bag. "You must have really been hungry," she commented.

"I was so nervous about tonight that I could hardly eat anything all day," he admitted.

"Nervous? About going out with me?" She was surprised.

"Well, like I said, it's been a really long time, and...heck, Jo, I'm so scared!"

"Scared? Of what?"

"Well...that I won't please you."

"You pleased me just fine last weekend."

"But we weren't exactly planning for that to happen, were we? It was just a spur-of-the-moment thing."

"Well, let's not plan for tonight to happen, either," she suggested. "Let's let tonight be a spur-of-the-moment thing too."

"But if we plan for it to be that way, then it won't be..." He looked puzzled for a moment, then burst out laughing. She joined in.

He took her to see 'The Time Traveler's Wife' and they both found it charming but a little hard to follow.

"The ending was just so sad," Jo told Doug afterwards. "It reminded me of the day Rick died."

"That must have been so terrible for you," he said softly.

"Oh, it was!" she agreed. "I'd just started my work day when the news of the attacks came on over the radio and we all gathered around to listen. My first thought was of Jamie, and my second was of Rick. I tried to call the child care center but couldn't get through because all the other parents were calling in too. It took me a couple of hours to get there and pick her up, and we went home to wait for word from Rick. We didn't hear anything at all for two days. I couldn't eat or sleep. It was pure torture. On the third day, the police called me. They wanted...me...to come to the makeshift morgue..."

By now she was sobbing hard. He held her close and stroked her hair until her tears subsided.

"Now I've gone and got your shirt all wet," she said after awhile.

"That's OK. I can live with my shirt getting a little wet. I'm more worried about you."

"I'll be OK," she sniffled. "Sorry for getting all emotional."

"Oh, that's all right!" Doug assured her. "I know how you feel. I've been there too, you know."

"I know. It must have been pretty similar for you when you lost Mary Frances."

"It was the worst day of my life," he said. "I'll never forget kissing her good-bye that morning. I've relived that moment in my mind over and over again millions of times. She made some joke about it being hump day and I told her I'd take her out somewhere really nice that weekend. I had no idea I'd ever see her alive again." He had to choke back a sob.

"Going to the morgue to identify the body was the worst part for me," said Jo.

"It was for me too," Doug agreed.

"Who could have ever guessed that a movie would have had such an emotional impact on both of us," Jo remarked.

"I had no idea our night would end like this," Doug replied.

"It's not over with yet." Jo giggled as she started to kiss him, and he responded with even more passion than he had the previous weekend. Together they lay back in bed, their hands moving slowly all over one another's bodies, pushing clothing aside to caress bare skin.

In contrast to the fevered urgency of the previous weekend, their lovemaking this time was slow, gentle, leisurely, as they patiently took the time to explore one another's bodies, discovering how best to bring one another pleasure.

"You were so worried," Jo chuckled as they lay in one another's arms afterwards.

"I really enjoyed that," said Doug. "Did you?"

"Very much." Lying in the arms of the man who'd become so very special to her over the past few weeks, Jo drifted into a contented sleep.


End file.
